influence of negative fund gains different or positive influences in q one so it also should be considered this at all to the post of yours also. and russia's announced plans to generate thirty billion dollars through the sale of a number of state assets over the next five years that's according to russia's finance minister speaking of the reuters russia investment summit aleksey kudrin said that the government hopes to raise approximately ten billion dollars a year those privatization plan much of previously said it would seek to earn some twenty nine billion from the sales over three years the revised plan is to come into effect from two thousand and eleven. and that's all the update for this hour we'll bring you more on the market's performance next hour drama that.

news today violence is once again flared up. these are the images the world has been seeing from the streets of canada. for a chatroom. right

. from stupid. stunts on t.v. don't come. past

noon in the russian capital good to have you with us on our t.v. easier headlines as the u.k. tightens its budget defense spending could be a major victim of hefty cuts but experts warn the creation of a second rate military could be a disaster for national security the country's elite special forces unit will undergo its biggest cut for. russia and canada hoping to break the ice over their territorial claims for the arctic seabed that's considered old vast deposits of on top natural resources the two countries foreign ministers are in the middle of talks in the russian capital. and from boom to bust americans are waiting for the economy to snap back two years after the biggest bankruptcy in u.s. history that sent finances spiraling out of control they blame the collapse of the failed investment bank lehman brothers for driving the country into debt sparking high unemployment and foreclosures. those were the day's top stories up next start he speaks with harvard professor and russia expert timothy colton about historical

dilemmas facing the country resetting relations with the u.s. and power sharing challenges faced by the kremlin stay with us. tim of the colton professor and chairman of the department of government at harvard university and an expert on russia says all questions today thank you very much for joining us mr colton you're a regular participant of the discussions club this serious topic is russia's history and future development why do you think russia is so interested in history today in two thousand and ten more than it was say ten years ago i think it reflects a trend which is not just russian but think this whole part of the world. history has come back so to say you know after the collapse of the old system of the soviet system there was of course much ferment about history at that time understandably

but then as the post the transition period developed it seemed more practical concerns about economic hard times and social issues and russia and all sorts of burning questions and history was kind of moved to the back burner there were other things that seemed more pressing. but it didn't stay that way through history kind of came back and partly it's the effect of. your neighbors in the neighborhood the truth in this full of countries that also have historical dilemma dilemma's many of which are about their relationship with russia and so even if russians wanted to leave history alone. you're ukrainian in polish in a stone in another neighbors don't want that and so they pressed you in a sense on the historical questions he mentioned three countries russia poland and ukraine which of the three do you think have problems with self or didn't if it takes i'm not sure it's sort of the problem of the self identified patient if you think of it that we've done it the ukrainians for sure because it's not not as

homogeneous as porn or stony as so in ukraine. maybe a little bit like russia. history is very divisive whereas in poland this would be perhaps less the case but that just to go back to what i said a moment ago it's not just about these external pressures on you i think russians themselves and not everybody by any means but more than ten years ago let's say find themselves drifting back to history your bookstores now have more history books than ever before and specifically twentieth century history this was where communism started. and the communism had its good points but it also obviously had its many very bad points and it is in analyzing them you're looking at yourselves so it's not to the poles can say that the russians did this to us but you can say that it forces you to look carefully and sometimes very painfully at the losses of the soviet period so

a lot of it's just about that i think communism is has rather unexpectedly returned to the agenda and you see europe your leaders talking about it putin with his prime minister putin with his interventions on cotton. and relations the risk with poland of course majed of maybe has been less active but he's made one very dramatic statements in october two thousand and eight and it seems as if he takes this very seriously how would you assess the effectiveness of russia's current ruling tandem with the president dmitry medvedev and prime minister vladimir putin sharing power well power sharing is not unique phenomena to russia that's prompted many other countries. and presidential constitutions that also have a prime minister as a separate senior leader are found now in many parts of the world fifty or sixty countries. but what's unusual here i think is that it's the former president the

dominant. leader for. years who became the junior partner so to say under the constitution that's very unusual maybe almost unique so imagine a president former president of france becoming prime minister later this is almost unheard of so that's what makes this all a bit of a mystery and they don't really tell us much about how it really works mr putin. in fact i think is tired of answering questions about this but i think they've said what they're going to say they say it works well that they have a trustful relationship but they're in regular contact one has his job the other one has another job and up to a point i believe that i mean i think you know they it's lasted. almost three years and. clearly they have managed to cooperate on many many issues president medvedev

has now carrying out a well publicized drive for him with their new zation and diversification of russia's economy was else have you seen so far i've seen very few and most of my russian friends say they've seen very few as well. and you know his call for modernization was not just about the economy but it's even broader so it's a very grand idea it's not a new idea because most of russia's leaders including yeltsin and putting before him also thought they had a program for modernization although they didn't necessarily use the word as much as he does but some sources of russia's. economic problems i think live very deep in the including corruption we can surprise the rights well i think it requires a more fundamental reform of the legal system of the institutions it requires greater openness it requires a more competitive political system you have it seems to me in many ways a very dynamic and admirable society and a great culture but you have

a very backward state and you have to fix this. state and how do you think russia did in handling the financial crisis you know i think i would give them a pretty good grade of foreign russian terms you see here the effects of some rather smart things that the putin people did saving this money putting it away in a. fund that could be used to get over hard times so i think you have to give them pretty good marks for managing the crisis but what the crisis has done it seems to me is revealed at a deeper level the underlying structural problems that were not necessarily the result of the crisis it just showed you know in a way how bad things are in the auto industry for example now you have. industries that are more dependent on government support than ever mr putin the other day mentioned tariffs for the auto industry and that's that's sort of a twentieth century solution. and did might provide some protection but the future

for all of us is i think more open economies where you can compete apart from the corner which meets diversification obviously what other big challenges will the russian government be facing over the next few years well it depends what you mean by challenges i mean this particular group has been in power for a decade and they are quite smart reasonable people and clearly a very high objective for them is just to remain in control and i think that for them that probably is the biggest challenge and they have proven to be very smart at doing that but i think the long term consequences for the country of a you know a governing structure which has a monopoly and then surrounded by really political relics of the one nine hundred ninety s. communist party of journalists and so forth these are not contemporary they don't give the ruling group competition it needs competition to innovate to thrive and to move forward and it's not getting that and what about security

threats like islamic radicalism ok i'm glad you raised that that's a serious matter of course and. the north caucasus problem generally has clearly become. more inflamed in the last several years it's no longer just a trial but rather a whole region and your government is used to variety of approaches and sometimes thirty they compete with one another. there is a security response of course armed forces some of which is absolutely necessary and i would support if i were russian there's an economic development program. but it seems to lack energy and coordination this year a bloody revolution unseated the ruling regime in kyrgyzstan and into him government is now in place with parliamentary elections due in a toe but they see it what are the most important points the current administration should remember as a tries to build a democratic future for the country maybe even deeper i mean what the kirghiz leaders now talk about is whether it can survive as a society let alone as

a democracy which seems quite out of the question right now how many times can you do it the wrong way and this is the second time in five years and had the overthrow of the government been a lot of the pates about whether russia should have intervened in the events in kyrgyzstan what's your take on that i actually was surprised at the time i thought that they would have your government would would have said yes but it didn't there may be things that went on surrounding kurdistan that are secret for example there i think were a lot of communications between russia and the united states on this issue there was a proposal apparently that the two of them send peacekeepers together. but this was rejected because it would be seen as too provocative the united states and russia in a sit in the situation where you have a lot of radical islam in play but i don't think this and the other gave us once and for all i think russia would be drawn into kyrgyzstan into central asia more

generally kurdistan i soon will join the customs union as it seems to want to do. i . i think russia's presence in kyrgyzstan and president is probably going to increase in the rest of central asia are probably going to decrease we've seen a real you know rather small between russia and the united states of america recent date but one of the problems the two countries haven't. well we've seen progress definitely and last year when that involved the new obama administration had announced this reset policy but it was still very early stages and there had been really no successes at all today we you know it looks quite different. both sides of learned to i think look at the point of view of the other side and the policy is moderated we have an arms control agreement oh but so many things that i had i mean there's a question of whether the united states will even ratify the agreement because we're going to have a congressional election in november where the opposition may gain control over the

congress so that and that's only the beginning i mean the agenda is very wide and very deep and there's been limited progress which is good but it's it's only the beginning we're talking here about it would take ten years to work through these things in terms of what is next i think russian admission to the w t o i mean i think that would be finally a promise that was delivered on that we know is important to russia that will have good consequences for russia like it did for trying to help modernize your economy that i think there's reason to be optimistic that finally this is going to happen and that would open up a whole other front then for interaction which i think would be very good mr colton thanks very much for your insight.

the nature and discover it's easy. communicate with the wild and. test yourself and become. see what nature can give you the. wealthy british style the stock. market why not. come to. find out what's really happening to the global economy with mike stronger for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune into kinds a report. of a failed state this is not

a provocation but warning. before it should step should you sure disapprove retraced because they have no idea about the hardships to face. they wanted to says it all to tunis and bring in the army the life of a using is the most precious thing in the world. is of self-sacrifice and heroism of those who understand it fully but you have to live a. real life stories from world war two books. of victory nineteen forty five dot dot com. u.k. tightens its budget belt defense spending could be a major victim of hefty cuts but experts warn the creation of a second rate military could be a disaster for national security the country's elite special forces unit the

u.s.a.'s blunder go its biggest cuts ever. russia and canada hoping to break the ice over their territorial claims to the arctic sea bed which is considered the gold deposits of untapped resources in two countries foreign ministers have just wrapped up their talks in the russian capital. from boom to bust americans waiting for the economy to snap back two years after bank of the biggest bankruptcy in u.s. history which said their finances spiraling out of control they didn't blame the collapse of investment bank lehman brothers for driving the country into debt sparking high unemployment and foreclosures. coming back to our top story this hour russia and canada looking to break the ice driving their argument over the arctic both countries foreign ministers have just wrapped up their talks here in moscow this after auto was said it's prepared to challenge russia for parts of the arctic sea bed let's go live to their joint press conference the u.n.

convention on the law of the seas and we will submit our data on the. edge and we're confident that our case will prevail that scientific evidence. says. you're going to. see. it. that it was full equivalence and they don't. see. that was shipped. that bound to them and is enough. some coffee yeah. not a cup. game praising me we see. the.

absolute so the government's national going to come because they're going to push us it's of up are also. up close and you could be with us now to convince you moscow all pro. gun violence. it was a senior in that interest in this that the president's on the invite will countries that we hope that the united states has joined this convention and has moved and with the work according to those mechanisms. where countries sydney to the air and appeals is going to concerning the ulster borders over there and see shelf done the in the ocean based on scientific research though to deal with you can we have presented our considerations and the commission will consider didn't say that it can in the early for your boots or do you solutions they asked for more information

and we are preparing information on our side right now the syndicate the little unless forests. bridge is concerned specifically with the stimulus bill it was a russian researchers who discovered it will still be but we currently know and we want to prove scientifically that it's a continuation of our continental shelf is all yours and mostly like i said just now because we are gathering information to present our data to the international commission kennedy is doing the same and by the way denmark is also considering room about declaring love on us of riches against greenland all of this should be based on scientific facts and should be considered by the international commission which will decide whose horizon and who turned out to be wrong but you will still in the polls. well groomed. to give you. four months that store on easter but only get

easier. when hubby announced to push cakes attention to united have already well a trail chancellor territory of the country that reached with this field then raised the price of the payments for the allocation of the basis of the science is this true body of the cheats of course and we need to have a clear system regarding our military presence in kyrgyzstan based on all of the interior governmental agreements and we have been discussing this issue for a number of years now we started discussing this issue with the black keys but ministration actually it was their initiative to discuss this issue than later still use. the who gives a small side was not that eager to discuss this issue further so let's wait a little until stana has elections and they have reviews with

a permanent not for us and not an interim government and then it will be clear what is the position on the give you side in this issue we are ready for these talks it is important for the q.b. site to be ready for this he talks with you to you thank you this is a newspaper. if you can go to. our competition with me. my question is for both ministers of possible said you discussed the middle east situation today what is your attitude towards money for the terms laid down by netanyahu you would use and in case the negotiations fail him then so you must close convincing the post. will the moscow conference remain as they reserve platform for the negotiations. will your i've already said dead to lawrence cameron and myself when we reaffirmed our support for the direct talks

with the i am supportive convinced that it was a goal to lose which room regardless of all the difficulties in this talks it is better to have talks than to have no talks i don't know the details of the situation we are not directly involved in the process even though the russian federation has said more than once that yes we believe that it would be useful to involve all the members of the middle east quartet in the process issues more than there are now but we don't know all the details we hope that they will inform us of the proceedings of another round has just been completed in jerusalem day earlier than met in sharm el sheikh as it's what i can tell you is the position of the quartet the position of the quartet is as follows. and the position of the u.n. which is based on the position of the arts it will list the number of the number of

goals that we need to achieve in our talks the so-called parameters of the final status this is what this document defines and it speaks about two states clearly palestine and israel these two states will live side by side in peace in harmony together with all other neighbors they are a new auger. phrases no other formulas in the document in i always believe did our research early partners wanted to have talks without any preconditions and i hope this remains true. ok as far as the moscow conference is concerned yes we still believe these initiative is still relevant. and we hope it will play an important role to support the direct talks we want to make sure that the direct talks will continue even after september twenty six at this

point we're see of mixed sent signals about this was. thank you next question please i would just. i would just add to that that canada's position. has always been clear on this specific issue we've called for direct peace talks as well as the two state solution two sovereign nations living side by side and we're extremely pleased to see that these discuss these discussions these talks have begun. prime minister harper has reiterated this on human as occasions but particularly following the g eight summit that was held in muskoka we we encourage each of course the parties to pursue and to continue their discussions quite frankly it's much more important to have the parties seated in front of each other than to be the separate. ones going to doubters with

the names. whose uncle was wrong the day director. was i want to. clearly less or do they do. you know quote unquote done our money let the saudis ink it. pulis that he televisual some to it and some visual concedes that now gary in new sweater focusing on up to support three years gave us. a bigot's if. so about people could a tould c.d.c. . postal. i think i can ask is it an oppressed and then i'll. come of the need to

kiran this again and. dozens can i don't need to easy. a gallon mark. where year investigative point i don't. need yeah i'm if you can be difficult and homesh. minister on top of all this meeting him cannot be about actiq when i was born your performance will be like it was point on your snuff russia under sergio french you don't need to translate become a seer they can. hear. you never poised to let us you know the me tell he's a sick scrooge the. school are gone and the two ruling couldn't exist see the truth within the sick will exist so.

to militarize all they are to take alter away from here to arm the arctic is probably overstating it we have always been favor of the arctic remaining neutral territory. yes you know. that's my. key to him while he was face. back on the. next dance you. landed on the bush energy. like exit politike. oh believe that the borders of the continental shelf. really encourages all of the convention of the laws to seize a bill of see if you can and we have reached an agreement with norway on this issue we discussed this issue will.